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Project TEACH Names New Student Participants

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Four high school sophomores with their eye on the future - not just their own, but
others' as well - have joined Project TEACH (Teachers Entering A Career Through Hope)
at Hope College.

Four high school sophomores with their eye on the future - not just their own, but
others' as well - have joined Project TEACH (Teachers Entering A Career Through Hope)
at Hope College.

The four students from the area who have joined the program this fall are Andres Garcia
of West Ottawa High School, Jessica Garza of West Ottawa High School, Pedro Martinez
Jr. of Holland High School and Andrea Rubio of West Ottawa High School. They will
be recognized during a reception at the college's Maas Center auditorium on Thursday,
Sept. 25, at 7 p.m.

The public is invited. Admission is free.

Project TEACH (Teachers Entering A Career Through Hope) is an incentive scholarship
program whose primary objective is increasing the number of persons of color in the
teaching profession. The program provides mentoring and instructional support for
the high schoolers, who begin as sophomores or juniors, and, when they continue on
their path toward becoming educators, scholarship aid for the participants as Hope
students. Project TEACH's goal is to help local students while increasing the number
of minorities who become teachers locally and add to the nation's pool of excellently
trained teachers.

Even as they begin their own career preparation through the Hope program, each with
a specific teaching goal in mind, the four students are united in their desire to
make a difference in other young lives.

"Each of our new students comes with a unique set of gifts and goals that they'll
bring to the table as they participate in the program," said Barbara Albers, director
of Project TEACH. "I am impressed with how committed they all are to pursuing their
interest in teaching for the best of all reasons: for the sake of the students with
whom they will be working as educators."

Garcia is interested in teaching at the elementary or middle-school level. He would
like to concentrate on making mathematics fun for his students. He has been active
as a volunteer with friends and others in the community. He is the son of Felipe
Caamaro-Garcia Sr. of Holland and Barbara Lorenzo of Wilmington, N.C.

Garza is interested in teaching at the elementary level, possibly fifth grade. Albers
notes that she is convinced that she will become an excellent teacher. Her community
and school activities have included working with children as a volunteer for CosmicCity
for Churches for Rose Park Reformed Church and participating in Leadership for the
21st Century. She is the daughter of Ismael and Raquel Garza of Holland and Misson,
Texas.

Martinez is interested in teaching fourth grade. He wants to be inspirational to
his students. Interested in music, he participates in the school choir and plays
a variety of instruments in a band that involves three generations of his family.
He is the son of Pedro Sr. and Stephanie Martinez of Holland, and Blanca Garcia of
Holland.

Rubio is interested in teaching at the middle school level. Her activities have included
volunteer work at her church, Calvary Reformed, and in the community. She has been
involved in the Boys and Girls Club as well as in various sports. She is the daughter
of Alonso and Jessica Rubio of Holland.

In addition to Garcia, Garza, Martinez and Rubio, Project TEACH includes another seven
students who are also currently in high school and 13 students who are enrolled at
Hope. A total of 11 participants have graduated from Hope through the program, which
began in 1996.

The Maas Center is located at 264 Columbia Ave., on Columbia Avenue at 11th Street.